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May 16, 2015

Dell Invents an Advanced Dual Display Tablet for Students & Pros

Earlier this week the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Dell that reveals a dual display tablet that could be aimed at consumers and professionals. The new tablet with dual displays will be run Windows and/or Android and be able to be closed like a book. Dell's patent filing also discusses how the tablet will be used for Office-like apps like Microsoft Office's Excel and beyond.

Dell's Invention Covers a Dual Display System with Dynamic Hover and Gesture Sensitivity

Dell's invention relates to a dual display information handling system which includes a processor, housing and dual displays operable to detect a touch device (finger or stylus) hovering above the display. The information handling system is operable to detect an orientation of the housing, detect an application running on the information handling system, and set a hover sensitivity for the display to a power level selected from a plurality of power levels based upon the operating mode and the application.

They system represents a mobile user/client device, such as a dual screen mobile tablet computer that will be able to run Windows and/or Android operating systems.

Dell's patent FIG. 2 noted below illustrates a system block diagram of a dual display power management system (#20) including sensor module (#250) and context selection module (#280). Also shown are the first display screen (#225) and the second display screen (#235) integrated into the dual display information handling system of the current embodiment.

The system covers a number of sensors including motion, image and sound. Other orientation sensors may directly provide data to the dual screen dual display power management system via their own application drivers and data detection systems. For example, the camera system and detection of gaze or presence of a user can operate on a different set of drivers and data be groomed by a software application running on the chipset(s) processors to interpret camera input. This data is then provided to the dual display screen dual display power management system.

Motion sensors (#252 above) may include one or more digital gyroscopes, accelerometers, and magnetometers. The motion sensors may also include reference point sensors. For example, a geomagnetic field sensor may determine position of one or both display screens of the dual-screen information handling system and or the overall dual display information handling system device itself.

Also, a digital gyro and accelerometer may be used to detect motion and changes in position. These sensors may provide a matrix of data. In an example embodiment, the azimuth or yaw, pitch, and roll values of the device are indicated by the raw sensor data.

In Dell's patent FIG. 3 noted above we're able to see an embodiment of a dual-display information handling system #300 including housings #310 and #320 that are joined together by a hinge mechanism #330. The housing includes a display, an orientation sensor (#312), a directional sensor (#314), a camera (#316) and a gyroscopic sensor (# 318).

Dell's patent figures that are noted above (Figures 4, 5a/b, 7c, 9 and 10) are examples of the orientations and configurations that the dual display will be able to work in.

Dell's patent FIG. 12 noted above illustrates a dual-display information handling system that can determine a usage mode of the dual-display information handling system. The dual-display information handling system is oriented similarly to that of an open book, and can further detect that the dual-display information handling system is running a book reader program.

In another example, not illustrated, dual-display information handling system can detect that it is oriented substantially horizontally and further detect that the dual-display information handling system is running a spreadsheet program.

Dynamic Hover Sensitivity

In patent FIG. 14 noted above, Dell illustrates a method for dynamic hover sensitivity and gesture adaptation in a dual display system starting at block #1400. For example, a dual-display information handling system can be detected as being oriented similarly to an open book, as a tablet device, or in another orientation, as needed or desired.

Multi-Hover Gesture Detection

Dell's dual-display information handling system operates to provide multi-hover gesture detection by combining information regarding a gesture on a touch device so that two different gestures, one over each display, could be handled at one time.

Dell filed their patent application back in Q4 2013. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time.

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